Davy's On The Road Again Ch. 06

"I love you, Davy Harper. You make me feel so free. There is nothing we can't do...together. It's freaking me out!"

"I love you, too, Amy Beiler. You make me whole. My life has begun again. Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It was luck and fate and Stevie and Sally and music and Aspen that brought us together. Let's thank a higher power."

We lay together in absolute bliss until she suggested that we shower off all the dust from our "horsing around." Naturally, we couldn't keep our hands off each other.

"I've worked up quite an appetite. How 'bout you? I'm going to fix us some grub from the chuck wagon."

"Great. I'm going to check the web."

I turned up the tunes and sat down while she puttered in the galley.

"One Love. One heart.
"Let's get together and feel all right,
As it was in the beginning (One Love)
So shall it be in the end (One Heart)
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right..."

She began to dance to the reggae beat and her good humor was infectious. I logged on to check my mail and was surprised by the amount of messages. My niece was sorry she missed me but she was still back east. My buddies were sorry they missed me but they were on the road. They suggested I keep an eye on their schedule in case our paths crossed. Sally and Stevie sent several crude messages (with some of our private pictures attached) but it was the last one that grabbed me. It read, "Want your mind blown. Check out this video own YouTube." I clicked on the link and yelled out, "Holy Shit! Amy, come here!"

We watched the screen as "In The Key Of Me" played. Someone in the Woody Creek Tavern audience had videotaped the performance and put it up on YouTube and there we were on the web. Even more astonishing were the 5000 hits the video had received in the few days since it had gone up.

"Look at that!"

"Don't we sound good?"

"What a nice vibe."

"I'll be damned! I'm so surprised that anybody cares enough to watch it."

"Why not? There are lots of people who remember you...and who want to hear new music."

"Well, I'll be damned!"

The comments under the video were all so positive and encouraging. It was a gift. I saved the link and wrote back to Stevie just how surprised we were to see it. I was glad that the event was saved for posterity.

I went back to my email. My kids, Emma and Emily, wrote that they loved the song and the video. My bastard publisher - at least the publisher that now retained my rights - wrote me that we should talk. A couple of record company suits emailed me that we should talk. Even my old prick of a manager emailed me that we should get together and that he had some offers. "Fat fucking chance," I thought out loud recalling how he sold me down the river once before. Jimmy emailed me telling me what a great time he had at the show and not to do anything with anybody until I talked to him. He told me to call him if and when I got to L.A. I forwarded these letters to Danny as I knew he would want to deal with some of those who now wanted another piece of me.

Jimmy also said that I was lucky to have hooked up with Amy and that we looked great together, much to the envy of half the males of Aspen. Amy got a kick out of that. There were several other emails from friends and one more that caught me. It read, "Davy, you probably don't remember me but I worked as your roadie back in the day. I work for Letterman these days and both of us would like to talk you into appearing on Late Night and Craig Ferguson's show. Please give me a call."

"Are you going to take them up on it?"

"Maybe. First, I intend to talk to Jimmy...and Stevie. I'm thinking of heading to L.A. after Palm Springs. I'd like to try to hustle my publisher, that fuckhead. I'd also like to wrestle all my rights away from those pricks at Warner Brothers. We'll see what happens. Danny will get back to me on all of these issues. He wants their ass, too." I clicked on the YouTube link again and, with all due shock and awe, we watched the video again.

"I like the fact that you are in the spotlight with me, A. Looks like you're upstaging me. But I don't mind, you look so badass and it's a good way to remember the video. I can see people emailing the link to their friends and telling them to check out the amazing babe."

"Oh, bullshit."

"And speaking of that, I think I'll roll some...but first..."

I got up from the table and crept behind her. I lifted her robe and licked her asshole. She shook her fanny in my face and brushed me away.

"As Richard Brautigan once wrote, 'I'd walk barefoot through one hundred miles of deep snow just to stand in your shit.'"

"Oh, Davy. You say the sweetest things."

While she cooked, I sat down and started to write. "Standing in the desert, feeling so small in the great shape of things/ There's a cowgirl right next to me and she's thinking that, too/ We hold hands and we knew that it is true./ Blessed be the canyons and the earth so vast and we're breathless/ Blessed be the hills and the earth so vast and we're speechless/ Blessed be our love and it's so vast and we're wholeness."

Eh! I flipped to another page. "Riding down the highway/ Feeling like a cowboy/ Enjoying every day/ Filling it with joy." Double eh!

"Dinner is on. Come and get it."

"Yee haw"

I popped a bottle of the grape and poured out two glasses. Amy placed two plates down and it looked delish. She'd heated up some of Sally's coulis, some of George's salmon filets and some black beans. We enjoyed the dinner. More important, we just enjoyed being together. For Santo, she fixed up a bowl with leftovers (except, thank God, for the beans) and he was quite happy, too. After dinner, he happily let us scratch his belly.

As we cleared the table and washed the dishes, the wind and rain had picked up again. "It's a good night to curl up and watch a movie," she said, "let's see what's available."

She went through the box of dvds..."Hmmm...porn, porn, more porn - looks interesting but not for tonight...of course, The Searchers...Spinal Tap...The Royal Tannenbaums...Time After Time...with Mary Steenburgen...I never saw that. I loved the book. Yes, that's tonight's feature...a good chick-flick."

I made a face but she knew I was kidding. I loved the book and I liked the movie, too. While romantic and sometimes even sappy, the premise held a place in my soul and anyway, being a sappy romantic with Amy was a good thing. We snuggled together and watched the film together and while I admit that my eyes watered, Amy really cried.

"Okay, now can we watch The Searchers?" Smack!

The wind and the rain had moved on. I took Santo out for his last walk of the day and was struck by the unearthly quiet. Truly a lack of sound surrounded me and I felt the stillness. I tried to make as little sound as I could in order to hear something, anything at all but there was no sound. I'd never heard quiet like that. Sometimes you can hear the waves lapping or the leaves rustling or even peepers off in the distance but this was different - a total absence of sound. I looked at the sky and it was overcast and dark. I quietly turned back to the RV so as not to disturb the air. When I got back, Amy was asleep and I sat down at the table and wrote this:

"There is no sound in the air tonight,
Not a breath nor a sigh,
A stillness in the air,
That covers the sky

My love is fast asleep,
She smiles in dreams,
She doesn't care the sound has dropped,
She doesn't know the world has stopped,
She smiles in dreams.

Everything is deadly still,
The desert blows no dust,
While cars continue to rust,
And Wall Street may go bust,
Still, it's silent and still
I wonder why (there is),
A stillness in the air,
That covers the sky.

My love is fast asleep,
She smiles in dreams,
She doesn't care the sound has dropped,
She doesn't know the world has stopped,
She smiles in dreams.
Smiling happily in dreams,
She smiles in dreams."

I didn't know where this was going. I think I wanted to make it more eerie. I wanted to create a feeling that the silence was disquieting. But for the moment, I decided to sleep on it so I left my book on the table and crawled into bed next to Amy. She let out a happy sound and rolled over, draping her arm cross my chest. It was the first sound I'd heard in a while and it made me smile. I knew I'd have to remember that feeling for my song.

In the morning, I felt Amy leave the bed and in my semi-slumber, I heard her puttering in the bathroom and then in the kitchen. I started to rouse myself. I remembered that we wanted to drive through Arizona today but I was soooo comfortable. After a few minutes, I got up and went about my morning routine. I walked into the galley where a cup of coffee was waiting for me. Amy, with pen in hand was writing.

"Good morning, handsome," she smiled, "I hope you don't mind but I saw your song here and I'm playing with it. Is that cool or did I cross the line?"

"No, it's very cool, gorgeous. What'cha got?"

"I changed a few things. Here, look."

Coffee does it for me in the morning and the first sip cleared my head. I looked at her notes.

"There is nothing in the air tonight,
Not a breath nor a sigh,
A stillness in the air that pervades the sky.

My love is fast asleep,
She dreams, She smiles
She doesn't care that all sound has stopped,
She doesn't know that the world has stopped,
She doesn't care if all time has stopped,
Is it all the way it seems?
Smiling in Dreams?

The desert blows no dust,
While cars continue to rust,
And Wall Street may go bust,
Still, it's silent and still
I wonder why (there is),
A stillness in the air,
That covers the sky.

Lying down next to her,
I hear her softly breathing,
She touches me and coos,
And all the world is filled,
With the only sound that matters.

My love is fast asleep,
She smiles, she dreams,
She smiles, she dreams,
Smiling happily in dreams,
She smiles in dreams."

"I know it doesn't really scan yet. I figured we can play with it."

"Yeah, well I like what you did...parts flow better...I'm not really crazy about the 'Is it all the way it seems?' line, though...but the last bit is a killer and I'll tell you why. Last night, after I wrote this - and, by the way, it was very eerie outside when I walked Santo - when I got into bed, you rolled over and cooed. It was the first sound I'd heard since the walk and I thought to myself that it was the only sound that mattered because it filled my heart. It eased me away from the eerieness. I told myself to remember to write it into the song...and here, you did it for me. Uncanny! But let me slightly change that to..."

Lying next to her,
I hear her softly breathing,
Her lips gently part,
She touches me and coos,
She touches my heart,
And all the world is filled,
With the only sound that matters."

"Better but not there yet."

Amy's face filled with a wide grin, "I love you, Davy Harper. You touch my heart."

I kissed her and placed my hand over her heart. "...and your tits and all the good parts, too."

"Well, that's it. You just love me for the amazing sex we have. Gimme back your dick - it's mine now!"

"Has been since we met!"

We laughed while we finished our coffee and she took Santo out while I tightened up the RV. On our way out, I refilled the water tank and flushed the other tanks. I checked the radiator level and the other fluids and made a note to pull into a dealership because I noticed a lot of dust in the engine. We headed right over to the Petrified Forest and spent a couple of hours checking out the beautifully colorful stone logs. Again, I got the feeling that this terrain was otherworldly. Back in the material world, at the gift shop, I bought her a tacky petrified pendent.

As we left the park, she put the pendent on and the turquoise bracelet. "Are you going to buy me all new jewelry on this trip?"

"Maybe. But I think that today, we're going to buy lots of chachkes on Route 66." She slipped her tongue into my ear.

We picked up Route 66 right away but it seemed to begin and end in fits and starts. We passed the Tepee Motel and some silly looking dinosaurs. We pulled into the Jack Rabbit Trading Post and looked at all the kitschy shit for sale. And we bought some. But Route 66 didn't really come into its own until we reached the outskirts of Winslow.

"Are we going to sing "Take It Easy?" I inquired.

"Of course!"

Sure enough, as we passed the statue of The Eagles, we broke into song and we had perfect harmony.

Sometimes, I felt that Route 66 was a sad road with all the ruins of a former civilization, like a dilapidated drive-in theater or shuttered buildings. Sometimes, I felt like we were retro like in the Pixar film, "Cars" since there were so many recognizable signs that were mimicked in the movie. And sometimes, I was amazed by the corny architecture. There was lots of laughter because there was so much cheesiness to laugh at.

We took a side trip to Meteor Crater. Again, I was overcome with feeling of being on an alien planet, that I was not of this place. We split the place quickly because after viewing the crater, it seemed like a bit of a ripoff. We caught 180 north out of Flagstaff. Passing Humphrey's Peak was very cool. The terrain here was unique and beautiful with lots of contrasting colors and land formations. But it was also very silly, like when we pulled through Bedrock and saw the big Fred Flintstone greeting us. As we approached Grand Canyon, everything became very different. Amy and I said, "oh my God," and "holy shit" so many times, we were cracking up. But you couldn't help it. Each turn in the road brought another "ooh" and "ah."

We pulled into the Trailer Village right across from the Visitor's Center. Fortunately, Amy made a reservation and we set up close to the mail walkway and not too far from a spectacular view. The trailer village was filled with RVs of every shape and size. Next to us was a Fleetwood Bounder that impressed the hell out of her.

"You know, Davy, the next time we do this - and there will be a next time - I think we should go in a bit more style."

"Sure, why not?" I liked our RV just fine but for two people and a dog, a little more space and luxury would work just fine...especially for my advancing decrepitude. Still, an RV along the lines of the one Jack and Sunny drove might make this sort of life a bit more pleasant.

We spent the day touring the park and it was everything we knew it would be. More than any descriptive word, it was inspirational. From every point and lookout, another breathtaking view was to be had. We covered like two sides of the park stopping in the RV for lunch - I'd think we'd been gaining weight except for all the walking and hiking. We took lots of pictures. We bought some trinkets like a 3D Viewer, a car decal, some postcards and shit like that. We had lots of fun.

We took Santo for a walk near the scenic view. We walked as close to the fence as you can but Santo seemed oblivious to the scene before him. He was busy smelling and marking. Finaly, he stopped and did his business. I pulled out the plastic poop bag and went to toss it in the refuse bin several feet away. I gave Amy the leash and it went limp. Santo was locked into the vista. He didn't move an inch as the eyes scanned the canyon. His attention was total. Finally, he looked up at us and had such an amazed look, if that's possible to read into a dog. As we walked back, we let him lead us as he kept turning back to gaze at the canyon. He gently fell asleep in his bed, I think he was awestruck.

At one point, late in the afternoon, we were resting up on Mather's Point before heading west where we wanted to watch the sunset on the South Rim, Amy came out of nowhere with this thought, "You know how like we've been dreaming about cowboys and singing cowboy songs and all? Well, sometimes, especially after all the cliff dwellings and ruins, I've been dreaming of being an Indian and...am I being clear? Am I just stoned and rambling?"

"Maybe both...No, I get it...more than a few times, I've heard my head say "wichi-tai wichi-tai, oh-raneeko, oh-raneeko, hey ney, hey ney."

"She laughed, "I know...also a lot of R. Carlos Nakai"

"Ok, I hear it...with Ry Cooder on the Geronimo soundtrack. But hey, listen to this:

"I saw the hills in black and while,
with war paint Indians looking down from the ledge,
Their feathered headdresses full and flowing,
To my horse, who was very much on the edge,
I said, "Hello, We Must Be Going."

She laughed again and grabbed my ass. She said, "Oh, you're a fucking scream."

We watched the sunset and it was something to see. I wanted someone to ring a bell and everyone would start drinking like in Mallory Square but it didn't happen. Amy and I sat silently and held hands. The solemnity brought all kinds of peace into me and I was invigorated, I was ecstatic, I was blissed out. Amy and I quietly walked back to the RV bushed but very, very satisfied. After having looked down on Grand Canyon from 30,000 feet, seeing it here (at whatever level we consider to be 'ground'), was beyond any expectations or visions. It was way beyond being a majestic experience for both of us.

The RV next to us was open and there was a party was going on. The awning was down and, like us, the slides were out. Our neighbors invited us over for a drink. I was ready to decline when Amy said, "We're going to shower off and change and then we'll stop by, okay?"

I got into the RV and asked her why she accepted adding, "I could actually crash for a while."

"I know, me too, but I thought it might be interesting to meet other RVers and hear their experiences. I thought it might be worth the effort? Tell me you're not mad at me, please? We'll only stay a little while, I promise."

"No, I think you're right. Why not? What did Warren say? I'll Sleep When I'm Dead!"

We showered, changed, toked up and went next door. Santo was on his leash. There were 5 couples milling about with drinks in hand, their ages ran from their twenties to their sixties. The owners and hosts introduced themselves as Charles and Marie from St. Louis. Charles asked what we were drinking. Amy asked for red wine and I asked if he had cognac? He disappeared into the RV.

Marie was very outgoing and gregarious. She was obviously a born hostess. She introduced us around when Charles returned from the bar. "Merlot, Amy, right? And David, how's VSOP?"

He told us about their travels. They were in their mid-sixties, second marriage each and this was their third RV trip to Grand Canyon. A youngish, say 35 to 40s, couple came over and introduced themselves as Denis and Carla. They were on their first RV trip together, sort of a long-delayed and even longer desired vacation. They were from New York City. We shot the shit with them for a while when Denis leaned into us and very, very quietly said, "You're as buzzed as we are, aren't you?"

We smiled and nodded in agreement which provoked a burst of quiet laughter. They asked if we would like to join them at their RV which was only three down from us. Amy and I suggested that we would meet them in a little while, we wanted to say our goodbyes and walk Santo.

Nearly an hour later, we walked over to their trailer and knocked on the door. It was a long and sleek Gulfstream, almost like a tour bus. When we walked inside, Amy and I were lost in the luxury of this vehicle.

"Gee, it's almost like a tour bus," I blurted out.

"Better," said Denis, "I've got her with me," pointing to Carla who smiled and kissed his cheek.

"He's a sweetie," she gushed.

"I have to ask you something if you don't mind," Denis looked at me seriously. "You're Davy Harper, the singer, right?"

"I think you have the right person."